Chaminade Football Tops Xaverian 35-7

“It’s weird thinking about this is the last couple of games,” Brendan O’Callaghan said Sunday afternoon as the Chaminade football team walked off Ott Field after the last home game of the 2012 regular season. “I’m thinking like, with the championship we have 5 games left so it’s weird this is one of the last high school football games I’m going to play. I’m going to enjoy the rest of it.”

The 6’2” DL shares those sentiments with 34 other members of the Class of 2013, but you get the sense that this year is different than when they entered as freshman, when the football program at the all-boys private Catholic school was at one of its lowest points in recent memory. A 1-9 record in 2010 gave way to five additional wins the following year and aside from a loss to St. Anthony’s – by 1 point – they sport a clean 5-1 record in 2012 after a 35-7 win over Xaverian.

“It’s very special,” DB John McDaid said, nearly coming up with an interception in the fourth off a pass from Xaverian QB Isaiah Kearney but settling for the block. “From the drops we do with (head) coach (Steven) Boyd, he’s being a safety coach, just knowing where you’re supposed to be and at the right time, you’ve got to go up and get it. Unfortunately I didn’t come down with it.”

WR Tom Zenker opened the scoring against the Clippers in the first minute of the game with a 44-yard touchdown reception off a simple fleaflicker.

“Sean just put it in the middle and I just caught it for an easy touchdown,” he said.of Cerrone, the starting QB.

If you had to pick one caveat to complain about, it would be the penalties the Flyers have incurred the past two weeks, including against Holy Trinity on both lines.

“We know this team has a very fast backfield so we had to maintain our lanes and always make sure you do your job, never try to do too much, just do your job,” O’Callaghan said. “We’re just trying to do our job, sometimes we do a little bit more, make a mistake, but everyone does their job and we keep playing good.”

Aside from the chance that the Flyers might host an opening-round playoff game at home, this is the last time they will sink their cleats into the artificial turf off of Saville Road. They will have to play the next two games – against Msgr. Farrell and Holy Cross on the road – the very idea conjuring up images of the runs put together by the New York Football Giants.

They are currently tied atop the CHSFL standings with Iona Prep – a team whom they defeated three weeks prior – and for the first time in years St. Anthony’s looks at least somewhat vulnerable after losing their first two games of the year against Bergen Catholic and Iona Prep before rattling off 4 straight wins.

Moreso, this has been the team that has been at least fully engulfed in the new program put together by Boyd and his staff, one that has borne significant fruit after 4 years of waiting, both winning a championship and beating St. Anthony’s at the JV level and hoping to string together the same sort of magic with a repeat meeting against their archrivals in early November.

“The team just gets together and we’re like ‘this is our year’,” Zenker said, “and we believe in it so we can make it happen.”

Thus far, they have.